Abstract
AimsRecruitment into psychiatry is a major issue nationally. Northern Ireland (NI) consistently punching above it's weight with psychiatry recruitment - in a region that only attracts 31.8% of F2s to enter into any training programme, Core psychiatry has been consistently oversubscribed. Here we look to examine the experiences of F2s in NI, including those who have had a placement in psychiatry and those who have not - what can we learn from NI?BackgroundThe exposure to psychiatry during the F2 year is a crucial time for recruitment to psychiatry. In NI, where there has been an 100% fill rate at core training level for many years, trainees and consultants have pointed towards a positive experience in the F2 year.MethodQuestionnaires were given out at a sample of F2 Generic Skills sessions, gathering a range of quantitative and qualitative data. A representative sample of over half of current F2s wrote about there preconceptions and experiences of psychiatry, whether they had worked in it or not. An a priori approach was taken towards generating codes as part of a framework analysis from which 4 major themes were identified.Result93/148 F2 doctors who were approached responded to the survey of which 36.6% had experienced a Foundation placement in psychiatry. Major qualitative themes that emerged were exposure to psychiatry, the nature of working in psychiatry, being valued and stigma. Doctors who had an F2 placement were much more likely to be willing to pursue a career in it, regardless of whether they had been allocated a placement with psychiatry by choice or not.ConclusionThis survey adds to the literature that exposure to psychiatry in undergraduate and postgraduate level has a huge role in shaping attitudes towards the specialty of psychiatry, and indeed the likelihood of a foundation doctor going on to become a psychiatry trainee. Stigma in the medical profession towards mental illness and psychiatry remains prevalent.
Highlights
The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery provides various services for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), including a four-week inpatient rehabilitation programme run by an integrated Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) of Occupational Therapists (OT), Physiotherapists (PT), Psychologists and Psychiatrists
We recorded which therapies for FND patients had previously tried (OT; PT; Speech and Language Therapy; Psychology; Pain Service) and the classes of medications they were taking on admission
We found no significant differences in outcome measures that correlated with past therapies or medication use
Summary
Thomas Elliott1* and Michael Elmalem2 1Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and 2National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery *Corresponding author. The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery provides various services for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), including a four-week inpatient rehabilitation programme run by an integrated Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) of Occupational Therapists (OT), Physiotherapists (PT), Psychologists and Psychiatrists. We had observed that patients with FND often have medical and psychiatric comorbidities including affective, dissociative, somatic symptom and pain disorders; pharmacological treatments are commonly used.
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